drag

v. & n.
—v. (dragged, dragging)
1 tr. pull along with effort or difficulty.
2 a tr. allow (one's feet, tail, etc.) to trail along the ground. b intr. trail along the ground. c intr. (of time etc.) go or pass heavily or slowly or tediously.
3 a intr. (usu. foll. by for) use a grapnel or drag (to find a drowned person or lost object). b tr. search the bottom of (a river etc.) with grapnels, nets, or drags.
4 tr. (often foll. by to) colloq. take (a person to a place etc., esp. against his or her will).
5 intr. (foll. by on, at) draw on (a cigarette etc.).
6 intr. (often foll. by on) continue at tedious length.
—n.
1 a an obstruction to progress. b Aeron. the longitudinal retarding force exerted by air. c slow motion; impeded progress. d an iron shoe for retarding a horse-drawn vehicle downhill.
2 colloq. a boring or dreary person, duty, performance, etc.
3 a a strong-smelling lure drawn before hounds as a substitute for a fox. b a hunt using this.
4 an apparatus for dredging or recovering drowned persons etc. from under water.
5 = drag-net.
6 sl. a draw on a cigarette etc.
7 sl. a women's clothes worn by men. b a party at which these are worn. c clothes in general.
8 an act of dragging.
9 a sl. a motor car. b (in full drag race) an acceleration race between cars usu. for a quarter of a mile.
10 US sl. influence, pull.
11 US sl. a street or road (the main drag).
12 hist. a private vehicle like a stagecoach, drawn by four horses.
Phrases and idioms:
drag anchor (of a ship) move from a moored position when the anchor fails to hold. drag-anchor n. = sea anchor. drag one's feet (or heels) be deliberately slow or reluctant to act. drag-hound a hound used to hunt with a drag. drag in introduce (a subject) irrelevantly. drag-line an excavator with a bucket pulled in by a wire rope. drag-net
1 a net drawn through a river or across ground to trap fish or game.
2 a systematic hunt for criminals etc. drag out protract. drag queen sl. a male homosexual transvestite.
drag up colloq.
1 deliberately mention (an unwelcome subject).
2 rear (a child) roughly and without proper training.
Etymology: ME f. OE dragan or ON draga DRAW